18/11/2009

None of our business!

Rumors are flying, or maybe shuffling along, about possible buyers of the Club.
There are several direct and indirect rumors of several persons/groups interested in buying the club.

The first part of the puzzle - are there any interested in buying?

The most talked about propable new owner at the moment is the one represented by the Intermarket Group. The Intermarket Group, in its current state is not our future owner. They represent a group that for some reason is not interested in revealing their identities. This secrecy has hampered the Intermarket Groups credibility as a serious bidder, forcing them to go public about having persuaded Rotshilds (current owners appointed representatives) that they have the required financial muscle. If the strongest rumor is true they have signed a non-disclosure agreement with the Club and even if that does not necessarily mean that a due diligence process have started I can't see the reason for such an agreement if a closer look at the West Ham books is not at hand. A due diligance process closes the books to other potential bidders and the Straumur creditors will want to make sure that they chose the one that will make the best offer first.
Of course a formal bid will not be tabled before any buyer have been through due diligance.

David Gold, West Ham fan and former Birmingham City owner have, following a period of denial, repeatedly stated that he is interested in a West Ham takeover and he is also my favourite to end up as our owner. As “Pink Palermo” wrote on KUMB: “I really want to believe the fairytale of billionaire west ham fans (Intermarket group) saving our skins, but if they were super super wealthy like the Citeh fella they would have bought the club by now, not be pissing around demonstrating they've got proof of funds”. (please note that Pinky has an agenda of his own of some kind and mysteriously appeared on KUMB around the time of Golds sale of B-ham, has since produced 1000 posts (!) and is always restating that due to huge debts West Ham is worth approx. £1…).

Even if Gold is my favorite to do the deal he is not necessarily my favorite owner, whoever that may be.

Then there are a few other direct or indirect rumors about other groups having shown interest in a West Ham takeover.

A rumor about a group called Nuram Investments surfaced the other day. That rumor may be more than a bit shaky as there seem to be only one source for this and no followup.

Now the Sun (!) says that Sullivan (the Gold and Sullivan of B'ham Sullivan) has offered £0 (!) for a 50% share of the club in exchange for injecting £40m into it and turn it into a profitable business...
Well, by the time we are profitable and the remaining 50% can be sold for a reasonable amont of money Straumur will no longer exist and therefore will not be able to enjoy the success, so there is no reason for them to be interested in that kind of bid.

Another rumor was generated more or less as a consequence of 2 ITK-rumours rumours not matching - meaning there must be 2 different bids - ah well, thats the quality of some rumors.

The second part of the puzzle – the owners inclination to sell - may reach a turning point at the Hilton Hotel Nordica in Reykjavík on December 1st when the creditors of Straumur will hold a meeting to discuss a extension of the Straumur moratorium beyond the current deadline of December 11th. The Icelandic court is officially deciding if the moratorium will be extended, but the Dec. 1st meeting will most likely decide if Straumur can go on playing the waiting game, or if they will be forced to accept the best bid tabled.

What we as fans must learn to live with is that the seller in this case does NOT resemble someone selling a puppy and wanting the best family to have it. The Straumurs creditors couldn’t care less about us and sees West Ham as any asset to be sold to regain as much as possible of what Straumur owes them. “We cannot afford to be picky” is a common comment among fans as is “we need to get it right this time”, but all we can do is wait and hope that the new master will be good to us.

11 comments:

TBI said...

Been saying it for ages. We will be under Chinese or Arab hands by Jan.

Joppe - said...

No worries then!

Prince H said...

One starts to feel a bit nostalgia about those TB years...

Prince H said...

Well now you can read that Straumar actually "gave" West Ham five millions last week. Don't know why (maybe just to balance the books when to sell), but at least it shows that Straumar do not take their commitment to the club too lightly..

Joppe - said...

The £5m rumor, if true, may be in line with my reasoning in the last post. No owner can endanger the PL status. If we need the money to keep key players (Hines ?) it will be a small price to pay.
It will also serve as a signal to potential buyers, saying "if the money is not right we will go on running the club".

God forbid it's just for the every day running of the Club.

Joppe - said...

Oh, and on the TB topic... the rumor is that he is part of the Intermarket Group backers. No wonder he is keeping a low profile!

Hakan said...

Possibly it's an encouraging sign that the owners, while trying to sell the club, are also apparently working overtime to create new revenue streams by responding to the huge demand for lingerie. ;)

Joppe - said...

Sorry Håkan but this is not an e-shop. ;)

Prince H said...

Sexy lingerie may be the way to survive!
300 pounds for each. Sell 5000 and all of a sudden we can pay Quashies salary for several months!

Hakan said...

Oh, dear... I had completely forgotten about Quashie. Is he still around? Is Zola saving him for the big games?
Joppe: Brilliant riposte about the e-shop!

TBI said...

Quashite was meant to be going to MKDons but in typical fashion the deal fell through....